Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to rifle carrying cases and harnesses. Specifically, the invention relates to a soft case for a rifle or shotgun that is securable to the front of a person.
Description of Related Art
A number of rifle cases and rifle harnesses exist that attempt to offer hunters a solution to the issues they face carrying their rifles in the field. Hunters often travel with their rifles over long distances, which without an adequate protective cover of the rifle, exposes the rifle's sensitive components to the damaging elements of nature. Cases protect the rifle from the elements, but cases also impede the ability of the hunter to access the rifle in seconds and the hunter's acts of accessing the rifle in the case may cause movement and noise that spook game. Hunters need quick access to the rifle within seconds because the presence of game within range of the rifle often is a matter of seconds. Game are highly sensitive to sound and movement such that when a hunter approaches game, any sound or movement may spook the game away.
There are hands free rifle carrying cases and hands free harnesses that secure the case to the hunter's back. Cases secured to the hunter's back require the hunter to make drastic and sound producing movements to access the weapon that spook the game. What is needed is a rifle carrying case securable to the front of the hunter, which allows for quick and silent access to the gun with as little movement as possible.
There are a number of hands free rifle carrying cases securable to a person by a single shoulder strap. However, these cases are problematic for hunters travelling over terrain that may force the hunter to maneuver in ways that cause rifle slings to fall off the hunter's shoulder. Furthermore, single strap devices are burdensome on hunters travelling long distances because the weight of the rifle is carried on a single shoulder and not evenly distributed across the hunter's body. There are hands free harnesses that secure a rifle to the hunter's back by several straps to prevent the rifle's movement in multiple dimensions, which addresses some of these issues of slipping slings and weight distribution, but suffers from the problems discussed above regarding rifles secured to the hunter's back and lack a protective case for the rifle.
There are hands free rifle carrying devises and hands free harnesses that support a rifle at the hunter's front by attaching a support cradle to straps of a harness. However, these carrying devices fail to support the rifle when the axis of the rifle is oriented at an angle substantially above the horizontal. The cradles on these carrying devices are not removably attachable from the harness or adjustable on the harness, making it impossible for the hunter to separate the cradle from the harness and making it impossible for the hunter to vary the orientation or positioning of the rifle cradle. This is problematic because hunters often need to orient the rifle case at angles substantially above a horizontal or position the case to the side of their body as a matter of maneuvering over terrain or as a matter of comfort.